It is known, for example in the beverage industry to employ a considerable amount of chemicals, such as caustic solutions or acids, directly at or in the containers and possibly also work with heat for cleaning containers, in particular bottles of plastics or glass, in connection with water. These well-known methods require a considerable amount of water and chemicals per container to be cleaned as well as a considerable amount of energy for generating heat. The high amount of water required is, among others, due to the chemicals not only having to be employed in a certain dilution for cleaning, but also having to be removed without leaving any residue. This results in an enormous amount of costs for cleaning the containers and can also lead to indirect additional costs if, due to the chemicals not having been completely removed without leaving any residue, product recalls for beverages filled into the containers and contaminated by chemical residues become necessary. In filling and packaging engineering, for example for returnable bottles of glass or plastics, the employed cleaning machine is the highest consumer of thermal energy and chemicals, for example in the form of caustic solutions. For example, approximately 30 kJ of thermal energy and approximately 20 ml of a 2.5% caustic solution are required per bottle to be cleaned.
From EP 1 787 662 A, a modular washing and sterilizing machine is known in which dirty objects, in particular used medical instruments, are cleaned and subsequently disinfected in several stations. In a pretreatment station, the dirty objects are prewashed with cold water and/or treated in an ultrasonic bath in one or several cleaning steps. In at least one subsequent washing station, washing is performed with hot water, optionally with added detergents, and here, hot disinfection with subsequent rinsing and drying in a drying chamber is accomplished. The washing operations are performed in washing chambers into which the dirty objects are transported with carts. Hot disinfection is performed with hot water at a temperature of, for example, 90° C. to 93° C. As pretreatment requires less time than the main washing operation with hot disinfection and drying, several parallel main washing stations are employed.
In WO 2007/051473 A, it is suggested to intensively clean returnable glass bottles with a glass powder blasted through a high-pressure medium. For plastic bottles, glass powder is extremely abrasive.
From DE 196 28 842 A, a method for cleaning metallic bottles, such as diving bottles or compressed air bottles, is known, wherein, for internal cleaning, a cleaning substance with granular, abrasive particles of glass scrap of e.g. hardened glass is filled into the bottle either in a dry state or in a liquid, and the bottle is then set in relative motion relative to the cleaning substance. The relative motion comprises a rotation of the bottle about its longitudinal axis and additionally cyclic tilting motions transversely thereto.